I was working out at the gym in Ann Arbor last week and heard the song According to You from Orianthi, the lead guitarist for the Michael-Jackson-tour-that-wasn’t. It reminded me of one of the key concepts that I work on for clients when we are doing marketing strategy – who is your target market?

This has to have been the most interesting quarterly planning cycle I’ve been a part of. On the one hand, the broad economy seems to be picking up, and the stress and strain from the outside world is receding. On the other hand, the economy is not at a point where people and companies can return to the way they used to be. And, companies are now having to deal with the fall-out of decisions they made a year ago, when they did what was right and expedient in the short term – often at the expense of what was good for the longer-term.